Railway cross-tie.



PATENTED JUNE 26, 1906.

L. I. HART. RAILWAY GROSS TIE.

APPLICATION FILED APL 25, 19.06.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

LUPHFER I. HART, OF VANA'ITAOHIO, ASSIGNOR` or ONE-THIRD To I/VILLIS M. SHIPLEY, OF VANATTA, OHIO.

RAILWAY CROSS-TIE.

Specification. of Letters Patent.

Patented .T une .26, 1906 Application med April 190e. serial N6. 313.607;

ter which can be inexpensively and readilyl l made and which is practically imperishable.

der two opposite The tie is of composite character, it being made of a core of wood and a body of cement or courcete material wholly surrounding and closely envelopin such core. In the 'present case the core is oy such a length as to lie unrails of a track, such core for this purpose being substantially coextensive with the cement material. I say substantially coextensive, for the wooden core is somewhat shorter than the cement body;-

but the diiierence is only the thickness of the outer coverin at the. opposite ends of the tie. The body is ofintegral character when the tie is complete, and it may be formed while the material of which it is composed is in a plastic condition in a suitable mold, the Wooden core being embedded in the plastic material l during the formation of the tie.

The cement material may be of any desirablevcharacter. For example, it'may consist of one part of Portland cement, three parts of sand,and enough Water to make an easilyworked plastic mass. Itis not necessary, however, to employ the materialsl in these proportions nor even to employ such aub-y stances, these being set forth simply as'l an illustration. i

' In the drawings I show a tie involving my invention.

In the drawings, Figure l represents said tie irnlongitudinal section, and Fig. 2 shows the same 'in top-plan View, the rails and against movement. vThe wooden core isl :shown as beineF in one 3, 1n which the Y statement applies to the concrete body. The concrete bod wholly surrounds the wooden core, except vor holes made in the said body to receive spikes or equivalent devices for fastening rails to the tie. In this way the concrete Vbody acts as a protective envelop for the core, so that the latter cannot be aifected by rains and other elements nor by the sun. As the core is of wood, it will not' of course rust, as would a metal core 'during the process of making the tie. When the tie is made, it

is dried, so as to take all moisture from the cement body and from the core, and when the concrete or cement material is set the same will be as hard as stone. The core 2 extends practically the complete length of the tie, so that when the tic is set under two rails the core will present a member into which spikes can be driven for fastenin such rails to the tie. The core strengthens t e tie, so that notwithstanding that the same embodies a concrete body the latter cannot be fractured.

`During the process of making the-tie I form in the upper section thereof andat longitudinally-separated points holes, each designated by 4, through which spikes can be passed.

piece, while the sainey It is not, however, necessary to form these holes during the makin may be formed upon t e ground or atthe place at which the ties are laid'. When the holes are formed in the tie during the making of l the same, I prefer to` arrange them in longitudinally-separated pairs, the holes of each pair being arrangedupon a line extending obliquely of the ytie, so that whenptwo railholdlng spikes are driven in place` they will not be direct] opposite each other.

A tie involving my inventionl cannot be adected by atmospheric changes, for neither the Wooden corel nor the cement body will expand or contract. The wooden core will not rust nor be attacked by moisture, for the of the tie, for they holes 4 in the -tie will' be'closed by spikes.

Mytie can be very inex made. It is' strong, an rails 'can be readily associated with it in view of thp fact that by virtue of the Wooden bod-y I 'may employ aordinary spikes for laying such rails.l p

In Fig. 1 of the drawings I have shown ,rails 5 mounted-u on the compositetie andA by' ordinary spikes as drlven through the spike-holes 4 mil fastened in place which are ensively and easilyn reo said tie and into the Wooden core 2. I so proportion the tie that the spikes Will' not entirely penetrate the said Wooden core, but will come within the neighborhood of a haliineh of the lower surface thereof. To avoid confusion in Fig. 2, I do not illustrate the rails on the tie.

It will be obvious that 'the spikes can be readily driven into or Withdrawn as easily from the Wooden core for fastening to or removing rails from the tie. It is therefore an easy matter to lay rails and as simple a matter to take `them up Without possibility of njuring the tie or breaking the spikes.

What I claim is- 1. A `railroad-tie composed of a Wooden the core,.the latter extending practically the entire length of the tie. i

2. A railroad-tic composed of wooden-core means, and a cement body wholly surrounding .the Wooden-core means.

3. A railroad-tie composed of wooden-core means, and a oeinentbody wholly surrounding the wooden-core means, said cement body having` spike-receiving holes.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my'hand in presence of two subscribing' Witnesses. i

LUPIIFER I. Witnesses: i

I-I. D. MURPHY, E. S. RANDOLPH. 

